


I thought you said you wouldn't fall in love

by djmarinizela



Series: how we fall in love when we fall in love [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AruAni, F/M, Fluff, short and sweet, the calm before the storm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-19 03:42:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29868618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/djmarinizela/pseuds/djmarinizela
Summary: Annie has questions for Armin the night before they escape Paradis.
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Annie Leonhart
Series: how we fall in love when we fall in love [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2195940
Comments: 2
Kudos: 50





	I thought you said you wouldn't fall in love

Enemies don’t talk. They don’t sit down together, set up camp in a forest, and ask how each person is doing over a pot of stew. Especially not in the midst of a war like this. Armin has been thinking about this for the past hour or so, ever since the walls came down. Earlier this morning, he had snapped at Mikasa for hesitating to fight, had to stop Connie from making a grave mistake, and had almost sacrificed his own life for Falco, a boy he knew nothing about. It was too much to take in, and the day isn’t even done.

Armin's now helping the commander in cleaning up after their meals; everything was too quiet after all the commotion that happened, and nobody was willing to lend a hand. They’ve discussed the battle plan, though, and everyone seemed to be completely fine not having to slit each other’s throats this time. 

"You should probably get some rest, Armin,” Hange tells him after they’ve put away the rest of the supplies. They know he’s been through a lot as well. 

“I will. In a bit.”

But Armin also knows that Hange is also under a lot of mental pressure. Once in a while, he can see Hange looking over at the Captain's sleeping figure in his makeshift cart, his face heavily bandaged. He wonders how much more all of them can endure all the pain.

He goes to the river to clean up, rolls up his sleeves, and splashes some water into his face. The last time he had been in this forest was during his first expedition. Hard to believe it’s been four years since. Back then, they knew nothing about the outside world, nothing about the shifters, or why enemies kept infiltrating the walls.

“Can’t sleep?”

He turns around and sees a person leaning against a boulder. “Annie.”

It’s been years since he last heard her talk. Annie doesn’t seem like she has changed this much. Well, probably because he’s been visiting her ever since she shut herself off from the rest of the world. 

“Figured you’d be still be up.” She puts her hands inside the pockets of her jacket. There is also the tiredness aching in her voice, the same tiredness that’s seeping into his bones. Armin knows she has something in her mind, the way she's looking away, a question stirring inside her. Finally, she gets the courage to ask. “Why… why did you do that, by the way?”

“Do what?”

“All those years.”

He gets what she’s talking about. “What about it?”

“Like you’ve never felt so enamored talking to a rock.”

Armin stands up. He’s always been a careful thinker, always reserving his better judgment until he weighs the opinions of both sides. And with Annie… he can’t even point a finger to her, even with everything that has happened.

“I don’t think of someone until I hear their side of the story,” he says.

“But you’ve thought of me.”

An owl howls from a tree branch behind them. It flaps its wings and then settles into the silence once again. Armin doesn’t have an answer to that, yet. He doesn't think he'll ever have an answer, really. They've interacted before when they were cadets and Annie has always been an interesting person to him. And even though the terrible revelation happened, he still cannot really find all the anger in the world to last out at her.

Annie walks with him back to the camp in silence. It’s dark out but they can see the full moon shining bright above them.

“It’s going to be tough tomorrow. Are you prepared to fight again?” he asks her like she’s never been in battle before.

“Are you?” And Annie’s question makes more sense: he would have to go against his own comrades. His own people.

His eyebrows furrow in frustration. There's so much yet he has to learn about this world, now that he's fully aware that decisions are never black-or-white, that people can both be good and bad, and that morality is oftentimes skewed. But he knows this person needs an answer from him right now.

“If it means bringing real peace to the entire world, then yes.”

Annie looks at him like he’s only saying this to make her comfortable, like he wouldn’t be true to his word. She’s still trying to figure out if she could actually trust him, or any of the Scouts for this matter. But Armin holds her gaze quite intensely, and Annie feels like she could actually depend on him.

They both stop in their tracks when Jean comes up to them, holding a folded blanket. “There’s only one left.”

He’s more inclined to give it to Armin, because like hell he’d hand something to an enemy. Annie doesn’t seem to care, anyway. She knows he’s still mad about the truth behind Marco’s death.

Armin takes the blanket and thanks his friend. They’ve run out of sleeping bags, it seems, so the two of them settle for a spot beside Gabi and Falco, stacking a few crates that they’ve piled up together. Annie was about to lean against the opposite edge of the box when Armin goes out of his way to sit right next to her, the warmth of the fireplace just enough to reach them.

“What…?”

He unfolds the blanket and gently covers her with it. “You need it more than I do,” he says.

She opens her mouth to protest, but she already knows Armin wouldn’t take it back. The least she could do is stay put. Only the sound of the fire crackling can be heard for a while.

“If this war ends…”

“When this war ends,” he corrects her. “I hope we finally get to know each other even more.”

“I thought you said you wouldn’t fall in love.”

“I said I’d reserve my better judgment until I think better of you,” Armin says. Annie doesn’t respond to that and pulls the blanket tighter around her shoulders, the fire dwindling into embers lulling herself to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I've always yearned for more Aruani snippets which I doubt Isayama will ever give to us. So I just ended up making my own scene.
> 
> (Ah, the magic of fanfics.)


End file.
